More Images

Related Video

Related Links

One last flag raising for post office custodian

Ben Brown raises the American flag at dawn outside the Ringling Boulevard post office in Sarasota on Jan. 30, where he has spent more than 30 years hoisting the flag promptly at 7 a.m. each workday. Brown will raise the colors for the last time on Jan. 31 as he retires after 38 years.

Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 5:33 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 5:33 p.m.

Ben Brown's daily routine starts at 1:30 a.m. when he wakes up and dons a meticulously clean, ironed blue uniform and leaves for the U.S. Postal Service office in downtown Sarasota. There, like he has done for 38 years, Brown cleans. He mops floors, empties wastebaskets and picks up after the homeless who sleep at the brick building on Ringling Boulevard — he knows them by what they leave behind.

A feather duster is usually tucked in his back pocket, a longer-handled version he uses for “special occasions” remains on reserve. At 7 a.m., he unfurls the flag and raises it in the parking lot. It's not a formal practice, though there's something ceremonial in the repetition. Attach the flag to a rope and, hand over hand, run it up the pole. On with the day.

“That's just part of my job, you know? That's it,” Brown said. But Friday there will be a changing of the post office guard. Because on Thursday Brown, who his wife calls “a creature of habit,” will leave work at 11:30 a.m., a newly minted retiree.

He plans to play golf, tend to the lemon and grapefruit trees on his acre of land in Bradenton, and spend time with his wife, Cameal — a cook who packed the lunches he ate each day at 8 a.m.

Although few of the post office customers know the story, or even the name, of the 70-year-old man who has cleaned the building since 1974, his absence will not go unnoticed, staff said.

“I don't have time for talking,” Brown said as he mopped floors Wednesday. “Hi or good day, and I'm going about my business.” But he recognizes all the regulars and employees, who know his face and greeting. “Very few, very few I don't know,” Brown said as he waved at a car pulling in to the back lot later that morning.

It was shortly after sunrise and Brown had stepped into the parking lot, flag tucked under his arm. It was his favorite moment on the job — his first chance to see daylight.

Few people were out on the road, but the post office was already buzzing. Wendy Morris, a clerk who has worked with Brown for 25 years, was one of several employees who had been at the office since 4 a.m.

After all those years, Morris knows where Brown will be at every point in the morning — he follows a strict routine and does not like to be off schedule. He even keeps the list of duties that was handed to him when he started almost 39 years ago, she said.

Cameal said she is concerned about how the routine-driven man will handle retirement.

“I just don't know how he's going to adjust,” she said.

Brown rarely used vacation time unless the post office makes him, Cameal said. He proudly claims he has accumulated 3,500 hours of unused sick leave. He is fit and lean, with a sharp memory. Only the greying tips of his full head of hair reveal his age.

Morris said she will remember Brown's many sayings, which stuck in Brown's head from decades past. One of his favorites, “You never go anywhere empty-handed,” originated 40 years ago at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

That's where he met Cameal, and where he worked as a janitor for 14 years before coming to the post office. One of the hospital employees used the phrase and Brown never forgot, Cameal said.

Although Cameal said she hears about the people her husband works with and knows all his nicknames for the staff, she doesn't hear about the bad stuff, the parts of a janitor's job that some people would lament.

“He's had some nasty clean-ups,” Morris said. “But you never hear him complain.”

<p>Ben Brown's daily routine starts at 1:30 a.m. when he wakes up and dons a meticulously clean, ironed blue uniform and leaves for the U.S. Postal Service office in downtown Sarasota. There, like he has done for 38 years, Brown cleans. He mops floors, empties wastebaskets and picks up after the homeless who sleep at the brick building on Ringling Boulevard — he knows them by what they leave behind. </p><p>A feather duster is usually tucked in his back pocket, a longer-handled version he uses for “special occasions” remains on reserve. At 7 a.m., he unfurls the flag and raises it in the parking lot. It's not a formal practice, though there's something ceremonial in the repetition. Attach the flag to a rope and, hand over hand, run it up the pole. On with the day.</p><p>“That's just part of my job, you know? That's it,” Brown said. But Friday there will be a changing of the post office guard. Because on Thursday Brown, who his wife calls “a creature of habit,” will leave work at 11:30 a.m., a newly minted retiree. </p><p>He plans to play golf, tend to the lemon and grapefruit trees on his acre of land in Bradenton, and spend time with his wife, Cameal — a cook who packed the lunches he ate each day at 8 a.m.</p><p>Although few of the post office customers know the story, or even the name, of the 70-year-old man who has cleaned the building since 1974, his absence will not go unnoticed, staff said.</p><p>“I don't have time for talking,” Brown said as he mopped floors Wednesday. “Hi or good day, and I'm going about my business.” But he recognizes all the regulars and employees, who know his face and greeting. “Very few, very few I don't know,” Brown said as he waved at a car pulling in to the back lot later that morning.</p><p>It was shortly after sunrise and Brown had stepped into the parking lot, flag tucked under his arm. It was his favorite moment on the job — his first chance to see daylight.</p><p>Few people were out on the road, but the post office was already buzzing. Wendy Morris, a clerk who has worked with Brown for 25 years, was one of several employees who had been at the office since 4 a.m.</p><p>After all those years, Morris knows where Brown will be at every point in the morning — he follows a strict routine and does not like to be off schedule. He even keeps the list of duties that was handed to him when he started almost 39 years ago, she said. </p><p>Cameal said she is concerned about how the routine-driven man will handle retirement.</p><p>“I just don't know how he's going to adjust,” she said.</p><p>Brown rarely used vacation time unless the post office makes him, Cameal said. He proudly claims he has accumulated 3,500 hours of unused sick leave. He is fit and lean, with a sharp memory. Only the greying tips of his full head of hair reveal his age. </p><p>Morris said she will remember Brown's many sayings, which stuck in Brown's head from decades past. One of his favorites, “You never go anywhere empty-handed,” originated 40 years ago at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.</p><p>That's where he met Cameal, and where he worked as a janitor for 14 years before coming to the post office. One of the hospital employees used the phrase and Brown never forgot, Cameal said. </p><p>Although Cameal said she hears about the people her husband works with and knows all his nicknames for the staff, she doesn't hear about the bad stuff, the parts of a janitor's job that some people would lament. </p><p>“He's had some nasty clean-ups,” Morris said. “But you never hear him complain.”</p><p>After all, it's just part of his job, you know?</p>